Just as Abraham did not spare his son Isaac, our Lord did not spare His son Jesus. When the Lord put Abraham to the test by asking him to sacrifice his son, He did so to see how much Abraham loved and trusted him. It is the same with His relationship with us, He chose to allow his son to come among us as man, knowing full well that He would suffer and be killed for our sake. There is no greater expression of love possible. Any parent can tell you the depth of love and intimacy they share with their child, to give them up to anything that might harm them would be the hardest thing to do, for many of us it would be unthinkable. Yet Abraham knew that the God who created the universe, in whom he so strongly believed, could also be trusted to raise from the dead, and to keep his promises. He trusted completely. Our Lord also knew that despite the suffering and death His son had to endure for our sake, the price to be paid was worth it for the sake of our salvation. He knew that His resurrection would draw us closer to Him, and to help us understand His intentions and His true nature.
When Peter, James, and John went up that mountain with Jesus, they already were His followers, and had seen Him perform miracles, and were awed at His wisdom and teaching. Yet this experience was profoundly different, while they were there, they were able to see Jesus as He truly is, in his glorified form. They say the brightness and beauty of their Lord for the first time and heard the voice of the Father. They could see Jesus conversing with the prophets, and heard of his coming exodus. They now saw with full clarity just who they had waited on, and believed in through all those generations before, and now for themselves, the Son of God. It must have been very hard to reconcile what they had seen, with the man they had travelled with, camped with, and broken bread with for all that time they had been with Him. Jesus wanted them to see this, so that they would perhaps understand His true nature better, and so grasp the significance of what was to come in a different light, and to hopefully then guide the others during those times of trial and fear. It is one thing to see a friend and even someone they knew as the Messiah in human form go through crucifixion and death, it is another completely to know someone to be the God of the universe go through such a thing, knowing the power and promise that He possesses, where literally nothing is impossible.
Jesus knew full well what we need to know through scripture, so that we can also grasp who He is, and what is possible. He knew that with that knowledge, we truly can take on the stance that if God is for us, who can possibly stand against us, and live our lives accordingly by having the hope of our God’s love and compassion for us. We can trust in his forgiveness and His love for us and know that all things are possible through Him. We can actually live in trust of Him, and so know peace rather than uncertainty and fear. We can focus our lives on His teachings, and love both Him, and one another, because of the hope that we have through Him. We were not meant to spend all our time focusing on secular worries, that is not what He intended for us. He calls us to a much greater way of living, one that emulates His own in its caring and compassion for others, because we can have confidence that He will handle the rest, whatever may come. There is peace in being freed from the worries of temporal life, knowing that in the end, He has it all figured out. It’s a peace that allows freedom, and it is a peace that we all seek, all we need do is believe in Him who has given us so many reasons to do so.
Podcast Link
The Deacons Bench 